


Working up the courage

by CatelynStark956



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 02:55:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29253312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CatelynStark956/pseuds/CatelynStark956
Summary: Catelyn finds out that she’s pregnant with Sansa and also, to her own embarrassment, realizes that she wants sex really badly
Relationships: Catelyn Stark/Ned Stark
Comments: 8
Kudos: 21





	Working up the courage

**Author's Note:**

> Horny!pregnant!Cat
> 
> That was all, thank you for your attention

It hit Catelyn while she was doing accounts one morning. She looked on the date at the paper in front of her and frowned. She was late by more than a week. Her moonblood should have already been upon her, it had been much more than a month since last time. Was she falling ill? No, that couldn’t be it, she felt fine. She had felt a little queasy in the morning for a few days, but it always passed quickly and she was felt perfectly good the rest of the day. Perhaps a little tired and sore, but otherwise it was fine. The tiredness was just because she had not been sleeping very well for a period. But maybe it would be a good idea to pay Maester Luwin a visit later, just to make sure everything was alright. The maester would know what was disrupting her moonblood.  
So after she had eaten her midday meal she climbed the stairs up to the maester’s turret. 

“Lady Stark, what a pleasant surprise” Luwin said when she entered. “Please sit.”

She sat in a chair opposite to him and he smiled at her in a way that for some reason reminded her of her uncle. The Blackfish and Maester Luwin could not have been more different, but there was something in that smile.

“What can I do for you, my lady?”

“Well, I have been feeling a little strange this past week” Catelyn told him.

“That’s not good. Tell me, what symptoms are you experiencing?”

“Uhm, I feel nauseous in the mornings. And I’m tired during the days but still I can’t get a good night’s sleep. And now my moonblood is late.”

And to her surprise his face turned into a smile once more.

“My lady, is there any chance of that you are with child?”

Three years. Three long years it had been since she carried Robb. And she loved her son with all of her heart, she couldn’t even describe it with words. He was perfect. But she had craved another child since she was ready to carry again. She wanted a little daughter running around with Robb, or maybe another son. Anything would be fine, she would love the child no matter what.  
Eddard had visited her chambers regularly for quite some time, something she was very pleased with. She was glad that he could be happy with her, and she had to admit to herself that she was enjoying it too. It felt good to have him moving in her. And still she had not even considered the possibility that she was pregnant. What had she been thinking with?

“I feel so stupid now” Catelyn sighed, but she smiled. “I would say there is a chance of that I am with child.”

“Then I think that congratulations is in order.”

“Thank you, Luwin.”

She had to fight to walk like a respectable person when she left the turret, but she couldn’t keep herself from smiling like a fool. She was sure people noticed, she couldn’t find it in her to care. She carried a babe. Another little one. And her husband would be with her that time, she wouldn’t have to worry about that he would be slain in battle. The times were better, the child would be born safe and loved with both it’s mother and it’s father there for it. She could already feel her heart swelling with love for the little child. Her baby.  
Eddard had been so good with Robb, he was a very good father. It brought joy to Catelyn every time she saw him play with the boy. And the boy loved his father more than anything else. And he happily told him a bedtime story almost every night. He would be good to the new babe, he would enjoy being a father to that one too. She couldn’t wait to tell him, she had to do it immediately.

“Lady Stark, you seem happy this fine day! Might I ask what brings you such happiness?” Jory Cassel asked cheerfully when she walked past him. 

Still whenever she looked at him all she could think of was how he had ripped her gown when she was being carried of to the bedding ceremony. But she forced that thought out of her head, Jory was a good man. And it had been years since he ripped her gown. 

“Oh I have just received joyful news, I am on my way to share it with Lord Stark” she smiled. “Though I am afraid I cannot tell you now.”

“Ah, I wonder what secret my sweet lady is carrying.”

She was carrying more than just a secret. 

“It won’t be secret for much longer, Jory, I can assure you of that you will know soon.”

“I can’t wait. I bid you good day then, Lady Stark.”

“Good day, Jory.”

She continued her way towards the Great Keep, hoped that she would find Eddard in his solar. He spent most of his time in there, and sometimes she was there with him. It was nice sitting and working together, she enjoyed it. And she enjoyed spending time with him. He was most often a bit quiet and reserved in the beginning, but he could be quite funny and warm when she gave him some time. And it went faster and faster every time. She liked to think that he was beginning to warm up to her. He smiled more often around her than he had before. It always made her feel good when she got him to smile. They had been married for a little more than three years. It wasn’t very long, but it was a bit. And it felt good that they could talk like friends.  
But to her great disappointment she didn’t find Eddard in his solar. It was empty. So there she had two options. Either she went looking for him, or she waited until supper. She didn’t really have time to look for him, but there would be lots of people in the Great Hall. She wanted it to be just them. Maybe she could ask him to come to her chambers. But then she would just appear wanton, he had lain with her the night before. If she was lucky he would come to her without her asking him, she knew for sure that he enjoyed it as much as she did. But the chance of that was small, he had never came two nights in a row. Maybe she could go to his chambers. But that would feel like she was invading his private space, his chambers were his chambers.  
She was pulled out of her thoughts by that Ser Rodrik came into the solar as well.

“What are you doing here, my lady?”

That was a very valid question, what was she doing? Overthinking a situation.

“I was looking for my lord husband. You wouldn’t happen to know where he is, Ser?”

If he knew where Eddard was then she wouldn’t have to go around looking for him but she also wouldn’t have to wait until later. That would just solve everything. 

“I’m afraid not, my lady, I was looking for him as well.”

Of course. 

“Oh, I will wait until later then.”

“Would you like me to tell Lord Stark to go to you when I find him?” Ser Rodrik asked. 

“I would like that very much. Thank you, Rodrik!”

Solved, finally. She could go back to work and Eddard would come to her and then she could tell him. Easy.  
And so she returned to her papers and her numbers, it was enough to make anyone dizzy. But she couldn’t seem to focus, at even the smallest sound she looked up, hoping for that it was Eddard. But she was hopelessly alone. Minutes came and passed, but her husband never seemed to come. After a while she gave up, she was clearly not getting any work done at all. She might as well go see her son, she had barely seen him all day and she missed him. She always missed him when he was not with her.  
She him them in the nursery, playing with small wooden knights on the soft rug that covered the floor. Anna, the servant who was tasked with looking after Robb, was sitting in a chair in the corner of the room. He immediately gave up his play when she entered and ran over to her as fast as his little legs could carry him.  
For a fleeting moment she wondered where the bastard was. Not that she missed him, it was a relief, but he always followed her son around and she found it strange that they weren’t playing together. 

“Play, Mama!” Robb said and took her hand.

He pulled her over to the knights and down on the rug. Then he handed her a little carved dragon that had been painted in green and red. She saw how Anna slipped out of the room and she was grateful for it. 

“You awe the dwagon” he said in a very serious tone when he picked up his own little night.

Maester Luwin struggled with Robb to get the r’s correct, but Catelyn liked it just the way it was. She melted every time Robb spoke, he was so adorable. Something deep down in her wished he would never learn. Did that make her a bit of a bad mother? Perhaps, but a sweeter boy than her son was very hard to find.

“Ooh do I get to be the dragon?” she asked with a smile. 

“I am a knight” Robb informed her. “Flying knight!”

Eddard had told him and the bastard the story of the Winged Knight some nights earlier and it was all he had spoken of ever since. Robb had promised her that one day he would be a flying knight when she tucked him into bed the night before.  
It was very freeing, playing with Robb. He seemed so happy when he ran around the room with his toys and came up with ideas on how to defeat the evil dragon that had burned down a village with it’s fiery breath. Some ideas were definitely better than others, but she was still defeated over and over and over by his little knights. And every time he demanded she pick up the toy and start over so that they could take her down again. She didn’t know how long they played, but she knew that she loved every second of it. And soon he would have another sibling that he could play with. He would be delighted by that. By having a little brother or sister that he could teach about knights. Girl or boy, it didn’t matter, he would be a wonderful older brother no matter what, she had no doubts about that.

“Lady Catelyn?”

Founding her had taken him quite some time. But there he was, dripping wet. He was wearing a very light shirt that stuck to his skin. She could see almost right through it, could see every muscle move when he walked into the room. And that made her feel something that she could not really explain, she just knew that she wanted. She wanted to touch him, wanted to feel him, wanted to have him.  
For a moment all she could do was stare up at the sight before her eyes, but then she blushed and turned her eyes to the floor. What had came over her? 

“My lord” she said and stood up. “Have you come to join us? I am sure we can find another knight for you.”

“But I’m a knight!” Robb protested loudly. 

Eddard chuckled at that. 

“There is nothing I would like more, but I fear I do not have time” he said, to Robb’s big sorrow. “Ser Rodrik told me you needed a word with me.”

She took a deep breath and then felt that no. No, she couldn’t tell him yet. The time wasn’t right she needed it to be more special. She wanted it to be just them. And why was that? She had no idea, she knew how she wanted it to be. Private, she wanted him to be the first person to know.

“It’s not urgent, but yes, I would like a word with you in private” she said and looked up at him again. “I have something I need to tell you.”

He frowned at that, there was something worried in his expression. And still that feeling grew in her once more when she looked at him. The wet and dripping hair, the shirt that clung to his chest, those intense grey eyes of his. For a moment she allowed her eyes to roam over his body. Told herself that it was okay, he was her husband after all. It couldn’t be a sin to take a good look at him.

“Oh it is nothing bad, I know you will be happy to hear it” she assured him, still not taking her eyes of him.

She wasn’t sure she would be able to, and she liked it. She liked the sight of him, she liked what it made her feel. And suddenly she was feeling very brave. 

“Why don’t you come to my chambers tonight and I shall tell you?” she asked. 

“I would not want to intrude“ he said uncertainly.

“You are always welcome in my chambers, my lord” she told him. “And now I’m asking you to come there, so you are certainly not an intruder.”

“Alright then. I will come tonight, after supper, my lady” he said with a small smile.

There it was, that sweet smile. 

“I look forward to it.”

“And so do I.”

And in that moment she felt that she would have asked him to come even if she had not had news for him. 

“My lord, is it raining?” she asked him then.

She liked what she saw, but why was he soaked? She had never experienced rain up in the north, only snow, it had never been warm enough for rain. And there weren’t any windows in the nursery so she couldn’t see. But she couldn’t come up with any other reasonable explanation other than that he had decided to take a bath with all his clothes on. 

“For the first time in very long. I think spring is upon us, but you can never be sure.”

And after spring summer would come. Oh how Catelyn missed summer.

“Though it will freeze as soon as it gets dark” he added and frowned again. “Tomorrow everything will be covered in ice.”

She had noticed that he frowned often. And she found it very endearing, but the ice worried her. She didn’t like the sound of that. 

“Does that mean that Robb cannot play outside?” 

“Not if we want him to stay alive and whole. I wouldn’t have him leave the keep until we have the ice under control.”

She turned back to Robb. He had continued their play without her.

“Did you hear what he said, my sweetling?” she asked him.

He just looked at her, clearly not having listened to what his father had said. 

“You cannot play outside for a few days.”

Robb furrowed his little brow. Despite having her looks he was so much like Eddard.

“Why?” he asked.

It hit her that he had never seen rain before. Well, it had rained while he was an infant in the Riverlands, but he couldn’t remember that. So you could say it was his first time. She held out a hand towards him. 

“Come and I can show you” she said.

He trotted over to her and took her hand. She led him out of the nursery, Eddard following behind them. She took him over to a window, and just then realized that he was too short to see out of it. But she noticed that he could hear the rain drumming against the glass.

She lifted Robb up into her arms and the boy looked out at the rain with wide eyes. 

“What is it?” Robb said.

“It’s water coming from the sky and it’s called rain. And you get very wet and cold if you stand in it, like if you took a bath but with your clothes on” she explained. 

The realization of that water could come from the sky seemed to have been a little too much for him. He was very quiet.

“And speaking of it, are you not cold, my lord? You should probably change your clothes.”

“Starks have hot blood, I’m fine” he replied.

“I’m worried that you might fall ill if you wear those wet clothes for too long.”

Though she was glad that he had not changed before he came to see her, she really didn’t want him to fall ill. 

“Do you worry for me?” he asked, sounding a bit surprised.

“Of course I do” Catelyn said softly. “You’re my husband.”

Robb had lost interest in the rain and began to fuss so she let him down again. He ran back into the nursery to continue playing and it was just Catelyn and Eddard left. They just stood there silent and looked at the heavy rain that never seemed to end outside the window. She had a feeling of that none of them actually had time for it, but it felt so peaceful to stand there together.  
She glanced at him, and then she reached over and took his hand. He looked back at her and then gave her hand a squeeze. And she felt like she was drowning in his soft grey eyes. She had noticed that they changed with his moods. They could be hard as stone, or wild like storm clouds, or, like they were then, soft as fog.  
Suddenly she wondered what it would feel like to kiss him, and how he would react if she did. They had never kissed outside of a bedchamber, Catelyn had never wanted it before. But she wanted it then. She had already asked him to come to her bedchamber, she could kiss him. As she had just told him, he was her husband, it would be no strange thing. So she gathered up all the courage that was left in her and moved closer to him.

“Could you kiss me?” she asked quietly, already feeling her cheeks burning. 

“Wh-what?”

She turned her gaze to the floor when Eddard looked at her with wide eyes, like what she had asked was madness. Most likely it was. It was not appropriate for a good lady do ask for that. She had been taught that she was always supposed to welcome her husband’s attentions, but never initiate something herself. It had been so stupid of her to ask, but it was too late to take it back. She took a deep breath and looked up at him once more. She took a bit of comfort in that his cheeks had turned slightly pink under his beard. The worst she could get was a no. And the best she could get was a kiss. The stakes were not very high. 

“Could you kiss me?” she repeated, her voice almost a whisper.

“You– you want to– to kiss me?”

She smiled at that. The Lord of Winterfell was so hard faced all the time, it was easy to forget how young he actually was. But there was a blushing and nervous boy even in the most stoic of lords. She couldn’t recall him ever being like that when he visited her chambers, but Catelyn liked seeing it. There was something so soft about it. 

“Yes, I want to kiss you.”

She almost added “very much”, but decided to not take it too far. She didn’t want to scare the poor man away. Or appear too wanton.

“Do you want to kiss me?” she asked. 

He didn’t reply to that. He cupped her face and then bent down and pressed his lips to hers. She was surprised for a second, but quickly pulled him closer, craving more. Catelyn probably would have been ashamed for her behavior if it had not felt so damn good.  
It was over to fast for her liking, but the way he looked at her after was almost better. Even though it made her blush again. 

“You should kiss me more often” she said shyly. 

“Would you like that?”

“Very much.”

That time she was brave enough to say it. She expected him to also blush, but that time he didn’t. 

“Then I will do so” he said. “Because I would like that too.”

He really was a sweet man behind that icy outside.

“I will see you for supper then, my lord” Catelyn said.

She then turned and walked away, had to fight not to jump from that feeling. It wasn’t exactly happiness, but she did feel very joyful. Well, whatever it was that he made her feel, she liked it very much.

~*~

Once more Eddard was taking such a long time to come. Catelyn had put Robb to bed, had kissed him goodnight and told him a short story in his father’s place. After they had eaten supper in the Great Hall something urgent had came up that he had to take care of. And she knew that it was simply the way of things, he was the Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North, he had to put that before everything else. But she was still annoyed by it. When it came down to it, she was just a woman. A woman, and a wife.  
She studied herself closely in the looking glass. Contemplated about whether or not she should take out her braid and brush out her hair. Would he find that improper? Perhaps. But it would be easier if she already had that done in the case of... but why would that happen? He had bedded her the night before and it never happened two nights in a row. But sometimes he would wait for a whole week before he came again and she wouldn’t be able to wait for that long. The thought of having to wait a whole week before getting to deal with her desires seemed unbearable. The thought struck her that maybe he wouldn’t come on his own at all, now when he had her with child. In the moment that felt like the worst thing that could ever happen to her.  
Maybe she could ask him, just like she had asked for the kiss earlier. But asking him to kiss her was one thing, asking him to fuck her was something completely different. He would probably find her disgusting. Her septa would most certainly have been disgusted if she had known Catelyn’s thoughts. She had not been taught much of the marriage bed, but she had been told that it was something she was supposed to endure. She was supposed to be still on her back while her husband took his pleasure of her. She wasn’t supposed to enjoy it, and she could absolutely never initiate anything. But she did, she did enjoy it, and she wanted it.  
Eddard enjoyed it, she was so sure of it. He had said that he wanted to kiss her more, maybe that could include coupling with her too. And he was her husband, wasn’t it his duty? It would only be asking him to do his duty, she decided.  
Though maybe she wouldn’t have to ask him for it, it was a bedchamber after all. She could probably kiss him and see if she could take it from there. As far as she knew he had not taken any other women into his bed, surely he would want her if she suggested it.  
A knock at the door pulled her out of her thoughts. Well now she had spent too long thinking to have time for brushing her hair. Quickly she looked at herself in looking glass again, decided that it was as good as it could get. Then she walked over to the door, took a deep breath, and opened it. 

“Good evening, my lady” her husband said 

And seeing him just made her desires grow. She wanted to feel him against her and inside her. Moving and breathing. She wanted to feel that feeling that always began in her lower belly. But she had to pull herself together, that would have to wait. That wasn’t what was important. The child was important. 

“Good evening, Lord Eddard” she said and stepped aside so that he could come inside. 

“How many times do I have to say it? Please call me Ned” he corrected her. 

Ned. She had to remember that. 

“How many times to I have to tell you that I want you to call me Cat? My family always called me Cat.”

He chuckled. He was cheerful that night, that was good. A bad night did not mean that he was cruel though, it just meant that he was not very talkative. 

“Your wish is my will, Cat” he said and closed the door behind him. 

She had to laugh at that. She sat in a chair by the hearth and gestured for him to do the same. And then it was time to tell him the news. 

“Well, what is that you wanted to tell me? I have been wondering all day.”

And suddenly Catelyn was without words. Because once more he looked at her like that. Like all he wanted was to kiss her. She looked down at the floor for a moment, but then she met his gaze again. 

“I’m with child” she blurted out. 

He was quiet, just stared at her.

“With child?” he asked after a moment, as if though he couldn’t believe it. 

“It is not showing yet, but yes!”

Ned beamed at her then, smiled like he had never been happier in his entire life. And she found that it fit him very well. Happiness. She hoped that she could give him more of that. So much bad had happened to him and he had deserved none of it, what he deserved was to be happy. Catelyn prayed to all the gods that would listen for that she could give him more happiness. And she had to admit that she felt joy at it too. Making him smile felt good.

“Our son is a wonderful boy” he said. “And I know that this child, girl or boy, will be just as incredible.”

Robb was so precious, and his little sibling would be too. 

“What would you like it to be? A girl or a boy?” she asked. 

“It does not matter even a little. But we have a son, it would be good to have a little girl too.”

“It would be nice with a girl” she agreed. 

Sons were always good, but it would be sweet to have a little girl too. A daughter. Maybe a daughter who looked like both of them. Who had Ned’s dark hair and her blue eyes. Yes, Catelyn would like that very much. 

“These are wonderful news, my lady.”

“They certainly are. I must admit I have wished for more children since I had Robb.”

If she could have it her way she would fill the castle with children. Children with red her and children with brown hair, children with grey eyes and children with blue. Laughing children, happy children. 

“I wish I could have given it to you sooner” Ned said. 

They were both quiet after that, and she avoided looking at her husband. Was there anything more to say, now that she had told him? Could she proceed with her plans? It felt highly inappropriate considering the topic of their conversation. Would he find it strange that she wanted to lie with him despite already being with child? Oh gods, she had not even considered that. But she couldn’t deny how badly she needed it. 

“What troubles you, Catelyn?” Ned said after a moment. 

“Oh, uhm, well...” she started, a little bit panicked about that he had noticed that she was thinking about something. “It doesn’t exactly trouble me.”

Except for that it did trouble her. And it just made it worse that he could so easily tell that something was gnawing on her mind.  
Catelyn could already feel her cheeks burning and in that moment she hated that she was so prone to blush. Why did she have to blush at everything? Her brother and sister had always been the same. Red cheeks ran in her family, apparently. 

“Okay” he said slowly, as if to tell her to go on.

He sounded like he usually did, but she thought that she could see some amusement in his eyes when she looked up. She was not entirely sure though, since her lord husband was sometimes hard to read, but the last thing she wanted from him was amusement. 

“I... uhm... oh gods... can you promise not to laugh at me, my lord?” she almost whispered.

She raised her hands and hid her face in them. She had no wish for her lord husband to see her like that. 

“Of course.”

Now she could even hear the amusement in his normally so controlled voice. It was terrible. 

“Would you lie with me, Ned?”

He was silent. For a second she almost thought that he had disappeared, but when she slowly lowered her hands he still sat there in the chair. He didn’t exactly look surprised. To Catelyn’s relief he didn’t look disgusted either, and he was certainly not laughing. He simply looked puzzled, like he didn’t really understand what she had just said. 

“I must confess this was not what I expected” he said. 

“We don’t have to if you don’t want it, of course.”

Catelyn looked down at her hands. She had never felt stupider. Why had she even suggested it? Why hadn’t she just shut her mouth and endured her feelings. They would have gone away eventually. 

“No, no, that’s not what I meant, I want to” he assured her. “I just had not realized that you wanted me to lie with you, my lady.”

“Surely you must have noticed that I... enjoy it.”

It would have been easier if she had not been blushing, she was convinced of that. But the flush didn’t seem to go away.

“I have, but I still wouldn’t want to force something you do not want upon you.”

“Ned, I want it. I have to confess I have wanted it all day.” 

“You have?”

“Yes.”

She pushed herself up from her chair, but then she hesitated. Could she walk to him? 

“Come here, Cat” he said, as if he had heard what she was thinking.

She went to him, perhaps a little too quickly, and bent down and kissed him. He placed his hands on her hips and pulled her down on his lap without breaking the kiss. She gasped against his lips at the motion, it surprised her. They had never sat like that before. But feeling him so close to her when it was all she had wanted for hours made her even more excited.  
Still kissing her with an urgency that almost made her dizzy he helped her position herself so that her knees were on the sides of his legs. The position made her skirts slide up her legs, and Ned pushed them up even further. He ran his hands up and down her thighs, sending shivers through her body.  
He moved his mouth from her lips down to her jaw and then her neck. His kisses drew small moans from her and that seemed to encourage him further. She was so focused on the feeling of his lips on her throat that she almost did not notice that he slipped one hand inside her smallclothes. That was, until he touched her. 

“Oh my gods” she moaned throatily. 

She would have been embarrassed about how wet she was just from kissing, but she could not care because it felt so good that she did not have words for it. 

“Do you like that?” he breathed.

Catelyn could only nod. She let her head tip backwards and closed her eyes. In that moment her world consisted only of the feeling of his thumb stroking the nub at the top of her sex in insistent circles. 

“Ned, please” she whimpered. “Please.”

She didn’t know what she was asking, begging, for. Just something. Some sort of relief. The pleasure that was building in her was the best thing she had ever felt, but it was also unbearable. Like she was chasing something, she needed to catch whatever it was.  
And suddenly something crashed over her and she couldn’t keep a cry from escaping her. It was like every part of her was aflame, her whole body tingling with a pleasure that was like nothing else she had ever felt. The ecstasy pulsing through her made her light as a feather, she was sure of that she was flying.  
When the last wave had gone through her she couldn’t do much but collapse against her husband, boneless and panting. All she knew was that she wanted more of whatever the hell that had been.  
A laugh bubbled in her throat and she let it. She felt so fantastic, like everything was just right. 

“My lady?” Ned asked.

“Forgive me, my lord” she giggled. “It’s just that I’ve never felt anything like that before. And, and... well, can you make me feel like that again?”

She looked at him, smiling. She had forgotten completely about everything that had to do with embarrassment and modesty, she just wanted more of her husband. And she wanted him to feel it too, she wanted him to feel the same pleasure.  
He seemed almost amazed by her words. 

“Do you want that?”

She climbed out of his lap and took his hand, pulling him towards the bed. As wonderful as that had been she wanted more space, wanted to be able to stretch out instead of sitting curled up. 

“More than anything. But first it is your turn.”


End file.
